Social Security Goes After Man For Overpayment To His Mom… From 42 Years Ago

Back in 1971, someone at the Social Security Administration goofed and overpaid a woman to the amount of $895. This past January, 42 years after the fact, that woman’s son says he received a letter from the SSA telling him to pay up or have that money docked from his tax refund.

“[The letter] said [SSA] was going to withhold my taxes unless I contacted about this social security over-payment,” the man, now 60, tells Florida’s First Coast News. “My first impression was someone was trying to punk me.”

He was away from home with the Navy at the time of the alleged overpayment and his mother passed away five years ago.

Ultimately, he says the SSA went ahead and helped itself to the money from his most recent refund.

What appears to have happened is that Social Security got this man confused with his father. The two men shared the same name, but it’s his father’s Social Security Number that is attached to the overpayment.

But instead of just refunding him the money and filling out their own paperwork to explain their error, it’s now up to the wronged man to file a request for a refund with the SSA.

“It’s on me to respond to their error,” he tells First Coast News.

After being contacted by a reporter about the incident, a rep for the SSA said the appropriate staff had been notified and that the SSA would be reaching out directly to the man, who probably just wants his $895 back.